Tracking ability

[Jason Dunn]

I know this has probably been discussed but I would like to hear what type of dog you hunt and how old a track can they take.
I got curs with a dash of English hound mixed in they are what I think would be called warm or hot nosed I don't think they can take track over 2-3 hrs old I have watched them over the years closely I remember I hit a feeder one morning and it had rained around 3am I follow a good set of tracks down a trail for about a half mile the dogs didn't start acting froggy until we were about 200yards from where he had bedded down they winded him from the trail and went to him . Recently I added a full Red Tick to our pack I am not a hound guy but the price was right and she sure hates a hog my thinking was if she makes a good dog I could cross her and get a little more nose but so far she hunts a lot like my dogs the only difference is she hits a coon now and then I got some work to do with her on trailing I hope in the end she will be able to get these curs on a few more hogs, where I hunt there isn't a hog problem for sure if the don't get out and hunt or have a good nose they aren't going to be too successful.
So lets hear what you got and how they hunt.

[BA-IV]

Tracks are hard to judge honestly without game cameras out, and every situation is different depending on when it rained last, the type of country you're hunting, wind, and anything else you can imagine. Where  I hunt, especially this time of year, I might ride around and not find where a big hog walked til sometime in the afternoon like noon to 2 pm. Common sense will tell you that hog didn't walk through there 30 mins ago when it's hot as it is, but I won't sit here and try and put a number on him. Regardless of when I find that track, I expect my cur dog to take that track and I expect him to bay it. He struggles sometimes in them short pine plantations that's grew up into briar patch jungles or in a clear cut, but I still expect to bay that hog.

One thing though on track hunting...if you wanna be successful, in my opinion, you have to pass up the small hog sign and starve your dog on cold tracks. Your numbers will go down, and it'll be frustrating for quite awhile, but it pays off in the end. You have to do your part and walk a track out, and give him a decent opportunity at it by trying to judge if it was done last night or two days ago.

It's a good feeling to find a track late in the day and watch a dog walk it out and bay that hog.

[Jason Dunn]

I can only remember a hand full of times my dogs were bayed and I couldn't hear them I don't even try hunting midday anymore I hunt daylight and sack it up around 10-11 am then roll out again at dark may hunt till 3 am my dogs do good for me and I like them but if I had a little more nose it sure wouldn't hurt my feelings my oldest dog is 7 and by far the best at working them out I got a male that's 2 1/2 I think hes going to out do her easy in another year or two if I can keep getting him on hogs.

[hillbilly]

I think it mostly depends on if the dog has the want to in it. Like baiv said lot depends on weather.

[Mike]

And it also comes with age and experience... I've seen a lot of dogs get colder and colder the older they got. Or maybe they just got smarter, learned to slow down and really work a track.

[Reuben]

Mike, my opinion is that they get wiser through experience, and the nose hot or cold and all in between, they are born with...

I like medium nosed dogs...I don't want a cold nosed dog that will grind out an old track for 2-4 hours to jump a hog...I like a dog that call smell old sign and go to hunting wider to locate those hogs...and finding can be winding a hog to taking a decent track to find a hog...

I don't care for a hot nosed dog that just about has to be on top of a hog to trail it...most of the time these type of dogs don't trail much unless they jump a hog...

I like knowing that if there is a hog in the wooded area we are hunting that more than likely the hogs will be found...

quite a bit on how the dogs hunt and use their noses has to do with how we hunt them...

if we are hunting fast on the wheelers and not paying much attention to the dogs they will usually learn to work hotter tracks...if we continually watch the dogs and when they act interested then we stop and encourage them to work it and we actually get down and walk the track with the dogs...and once the dogs take the track wait and see if they can finish it...if they come back continue moving on...to me that is about the best way to hunt medium nosed dogs...

[Cajun]

This is a subject that has fascinated me for years. I have heard & read that all dogs can smell the same thing. Well if that is the case it comes down to desire & brains on what that scent does to dogs and their ability to process it.
  I agree with every bodies opinions that have already been listed. There are so many variables when it cones down to trailing, wind, sun, age of the track & dry conditions all take away from the scent. Dry leaves & sand are tough trailing conditions. Standing water holds scent & I will tell you why. We have seen our hounds when we were bear hunting in Canada trail across a island & the nearest island might be a 1/2 mile away. I have seen dogs start swimming & they are opening as they are swimming because they are catching scent off the water. These were cold tracks to start with & by no means hot.
  Like Mike said, age & experience will help a dog altho I have seen young hounds that their first time to the woods, they can take a track & just go with it. When a dog puts his nose down & you can hear him sucking in the scent, that is a dog that will be cold nose & he is trying his best to get whatever scent he can smell.
  I think all dogs just process scent in different ways. How many of you have been hog hunting & you are in fresh rooting & your bulldog is going crazy because he can smell the hog scent but your bay dogs cannot trail it out. Your thinking, I know this is fresh because my bulldog can smell it but the trail dogs cannot.
  Now the difference between hounds & curs. On average it is much easier getting a cold nose hound but there are cold nose curs out there. I am talking about finding a track & putting your dogs on it & they ail take it or at least put in a good effort. Curs & hounds are just bred different & most curs just don't want to fool with a older track. I think on a lot of curs, they are smarter then a hound & will just start making circles until they warm it up enough where they can trail it out. I used to have a couple, not at the same time (Grandfather & Grandson). These two Catahoulas could make monkeys out of most hounds. I wish I would have had a Garmin back then & I might have know how they did it but they would always be bayed ahead of the plots.
  I like to catch big hogs so numbers are not important to me so I will pass up a lot of smaller sign looking for a big track. I want a dog that can take it or at least put in a good effort. Nothing would piss me off more then finding a good track later on in the day & my dogs standing on their head wondering, what you want me to take that track.

[shadygrovehawgdawg]

This is a great topic, agree with most of what has been said. I had a Kemmer gyp 20 years ago that would work a track that some of the walkers and blue ticks I was hunting with couldnt warm up. Looking back I dont think her nose was "better" she just had the desire and will and confidence that she could work it. By the time she took it where the other dogs were interested in it, she usually would be bayed. Back then we didnt have enough hogs around to be picky with a hot or cold track all we wanted was some good dog work and some hogs at the end of it. If the dogs split the track, you could bet 100% of the time she would be bayed with the biggest boar of the bunch, I think they can all tell what is what with enough time and she liked the big nasty ones. I got her from a dog trader because she was so "trashy", shoot I just thought she was one game heifer boys. Took me 4 years and a lot of effort, but I finally smartened up enough to make her 95% straight. She forced me to buy a traking system and just shocking her didnt work, if there werent hogs around she was gonna make game. Some of the guys I hunted with would say shock her she cant smell a track them hounds cant smell or work, I agree, she just had the determination and heart to do something with those tracks. Brains, desire and heart, man I will take that combo any day. Most of the ones with the brains to take those tracks and produce hogs at the end, a lot of people arent smart enough to handle. Im like Cajun, If you think its too cold push them up and move them out, if you think its hot let them work it. Just stay out of the way and dont muddy the water.

[shadygrovehawgdawg]

I said Cajun, meant Reuben, sorry. I liked both opinions.

[Judge peel]

Good thread. Cold nose or hot don't matter to me if they get it done. From what I have seen a cold nose dog won't pull off for a bigger hog but a hot nose dog will. In hog hunting I think it's best to be very diverse in your pack and don't be afraid to mix dogs up to get the job done. As far as working a track a hound will spend more time grinding it out and start farther back and curs don't on average from my experience. That's why I say mix and match your dogs it can better your chances imo. But I enjoy catching pigs they don't have to all be big. And I never set out to try and find big ones I don't hunt tracks I let the dogs chose the track or wind the hog on there own if we get em we high five if not no biggie. But I do respect a good track dog that you can drop on a track and end up with that pig

[Reuben]

it used to be we had these discussions on here on a regular basis...hope some of the newer guys will get them going again...

[Reuben]

JP...having a diverse dog pack is not a bad idea...a couple of good strike dogs to find a hog and a couple of great stop dogs running with the pack can be a good thing...some of these stop dogs can't find a hog on there own or run one for long but sure will run with the pack for however long it takes...

[l.h.cracker]

I bought a female Florida cur when I first started getting dogs I bought her for $150 from a damn fool. One of them guys that you don't like the second you meet him. His reason for selling was that he couldn't catch her up.Molly could work a track where no other dog could I don't really cast hunt but Molly would cast.She would work it out bay the hog if it broke and ran another 3 miles she'd work it out and bay the hog again so on and so forth.I then followed in the other damn fools footsteps and sold Molly because I walk hunt generally and she will punish you for walking. The curs I hunt now are younger faster ruffer and they get the job done but there ain't a day goes by that I don't kick my self in the butt for selling old Molly. I didn't know then how hard it is to find a dog like her.The fellow who bought her loves her and we stay in touch hopefully one day he'll let me breed her and who knows....

[l.h.cracker]

Molly dog she's got the brains and nose you fellas speak of

[biguns]

I sold my curs and went with hounds (Blueticks and Walkers) because I only cast hunt and the curs don't work deep enough. I don't have trails on which I can take a vehicle. Many hog hunters have a "silent" fetish that predisposes them to claim they don't like hounds because they're "open." The reality is all dogs are open to varying degrees. Any sensible hound can be trained to only open when the track is really hot, which is what you want anyway. "Checking the Garmin" doesn't get it. If a dog doesn't get at least 800-1000 yards, then it misses too much. If it takes the dog more than a few minutes to get that deep, it's the same thing--problem. If the dog only goes deep with other dogs, it's a problem. I have a young Bluetick gyp that will go over 1000 yards in a few minutes. When she strikes a good track, she opens. The other dogs hear and go to her to bay the hog.

[Jason Dunn]

Biguns

Did you sell the curs just because they didn't get deep enough or did they not have enough nose for you too ? What would you consider the nose your dogs have cold, warm, medium ? I know there are a lot of variables to consider im just using ball park averages.

[biguns]

The curs didn't hunt deep enough, fast enough. The cold, hot, warm nose deal is hard to say. For example, I have a Walker grnitech female that would be described as hot nosed by most people. As best I can tell, however, it's not that she can't work a cold track but rather that she keeps moving until she strikes a track that she can hook on and tree quickly. If there isn't a fresh track available (and she'll go two miles looking for one), she'll circle back and work a colder track. I prefer her working style to a "cold" nosed dog that takes the first track it comes to and works the track for an hour. That's what I mean by getting deep fast. A good dog will find a good track and do so quickly without wasting time.

My Bluetick gyp that I use on hogs and coons is a head up, fast track dog. She can take a pretty cold track (couple hours maybe) and warm it up fast because she runs the track with her head up. She's much tighter on hogs than coons. She has yet to develop into a hard treeing dog, and she may never be a real hard tree dog, but she is a true hunting dog, a real track driver. She's only 11 months and still makes mistakes, but she is a real track dog.

[BA-IV]

I like a cur dog that works out from my feet outwards.  The. Deep hunting dogs that get gone in a blink of an eye makes a body proud when you turn em loose til you catch three or four hogs going to him bayed a mile out. They tend to miss running like that. Not saying that's the case for your dogs, but I've been around a bunch of em and they tend to miss the close hogs quite often.

[Reuben]

I like a cur dog that works out from my feet outwards.  The. Deep hunting dogs that get gone in a blink of an eye makes a body proud when you turn em loose til you catch three or four hogs going to him bayed a mile out. They tend to miss running like that. Not saying that's the case for your dogs, but I've been around a bunch of em and they tend to miss the close hogs quite often.

BA-IV...I like the same...I have seen some walkers get way out there quickly and then see the curs strike right where the hound just crossed...I like a cur that circles out and then gets deeper as needed...I don't like a dog that hunts a straight line...

back in the 70's-80's the big talk was the hunters bad mouthing field trialers of all sorts...the lab folks were saying the field trials created dogs that were hard to manage, too high strung, the English pointer folks were saying the trials were making dogs that hunted too deep and for themselves...the hound folks were saying the trialers were ruining the hounds by breeding dogs that hunted for themselves and would pass up good track to find a smoking hot track and went too deep...I like dogs that don miss if there is one there to be found...

[l.h.cracker]

I agree with the judge and I have just that a variety of hunting styles in my dogs a couple are longer range and a couple are shorter to medium range and they seem to get it done.I don't think that you can group all cur dogs and say that they don't hunt deep cause that dang sure ain't the case.I don't hunt hounds simply because I have cur dogs and I would never knock anyone who runs hounds.I would like to hear how you train a dog not to open on track though. All mine are silent and I didn't know you can teach that.